Many Over One
by InkwellOfTheMuses
Summary: Lucy's gone missing. The Team goes on a search and rescue, but when they hear about a blonde Celestial Spirit Wizard wrecking towns they take on the job of stopping said wizard. What do they find there and how can they help someone who doesn't want the help? How do you save a friend that won't even talk to you? Can Natsu really fight her? Three-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**I. **

**AM.**

**SO.**

**SORRY.**

**I have been freaking out about posting for three weeks and now it's official. I disappeared for a month! I have missed you guys sooooo much! **

**I know what you're thinking. This isn't even the Glob. If you don't know what that is, it's my other story check it out! I have slacked so hard on that story. But, I have plenty of inspiration because of the new manga chapter, it was so kick ass. **

**I started this story. The climax scene is based off the episode Apprentice Part 2 from Teen Titans. I couldn't help myself NaLu. Anywho... I hope you guys love it and tell me what you think. I tried to focus on describing sequencesso you'd really get a picture in your head. **

**Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I'm still waiting on Mashima, sent him some fan mail asking him to surrender all of Fairy Tail to me, only time will tell.**

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"Hey, Pyro!" Gray called to Natsu, "I've got a question for you." Gray approached the guild's bar, where Natsu and Mira had been talking.

Natsu turned his attention away from the barmaid, who went over to get another keg for Cana, to the smug ice wizard. Gray knew that pyro was one of Natsu's least favorite nicknames, "What do you want, Ice boy?" So, of course, Natsu had to reciprocate with one of Gray's least favorite nicknames, as well.  
Gray's smug grin dropped to a sour expression as memories of Sugarboy flooded his mind. Gray shook the pictures out of his head and refocused on Natsu, "I'm looking for Lucy. Do you know where she is?"  
Natsu shrugged and spun back around in his chair, "How am I supposed to know?"  
Gray sat in the barstool next to Natsu and propped his elbow on the edge of the counter. Gray eyed Natsu carefully, Natsu took another swig of his sake and shifted uncomfortably under his rival's gaze. Gray then flagged Mira down and ordered his own drink, "So," Gray began, again, after Mira walked away, "You're saying you don't know where she is?"  
Natsu glared at Gray, "What do you need her for?" Natsu leaned forward to make a point of staring at Gray.  
After a tense moment, Gray leaned back and threw his hands up, "Whatever, man, I was just looking for her since she wasn't at the guild yesterday. If you don't want to tell me where she is, fine."  
Natsu straightened back up, "She wasn't at the guild yesterday?"  
Now it was Gray's turn to squint at Natsu, "Yeah, or the day before that." Gray watched the fire wizards brows knit together, "So, you don't know where she is."  
Natsu relaxed suddenly, "Why would I?"  
Gray couldn't keep up with Natsu's different reactions, "You're with her often enough, I figured you would have talked to her."  
Natsu folded his arms and leaned back in the bar stool, "I just got back from a solo mission, this morning. Last time I saw Lucy was at her house, two mornings ago." He kicked his feet onto the bar, "She probably didn't stop by yesterday because she knew I wasn't going to be here."  
Gray laughed at the fact that Mira, not only having overheard his unusual cocky behavior but also not wanting his feet on her bar, shoved Natsu's legs off the counter, nearly causing him to fall out of his seat. Mira then set Gray's drink down in front of him with a smile before walking away. Gray took a sip of his drink and replied to Natsu, "That would make sense, except that I looked for her at her apartment and she wasn't there, either."  
"You went to her house and she wasn't there?" Natsu was still straightening himself out on the chair when he looked up at Gray with surprise coloring his face.  
"I've come to you, haven't I?" Gray rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't have asked you unless it was a last resort. I've looked everywhere else I could think of."  
Now Gray had Natsu's full attention, "I went to her house two days ago to tell her I wanted to take a solo mission. She said that was fine because she wasn't feeling good anyway. I left that night from the guild."  
"Why'd you take a solo mission?" Gray asked.  
Natsu scratched the back of his neck and looked away, "I don't have to explain myself to you, Freezerburn!" Natsu blushed realizing that denying to tell Gray why, made him seem even more guilty, "I knew she wasn't feeling good so I wanted to surprise her by making enough to cover the rest of her rent. She almost had enough, but I destroyed something, again the last time we went on a job together." Natsu looked down bashfully, "So, I made sure not to destroy anything this time."  
Gray looked on in slight astonishment. Whether it was because Natsu had managed not to destroy something or the fact that he had been so thoughtful for Lucy's sake, Gray didn't know, "So, you left her house that morning and you just got back this morning?"  
Natsu's shyness all but disappeared, "Yeah, and she said she was so sick she probably wasn't going to leave her house the whole time I was gone."  
Gray sat back and huffed, "Well, I went to her house twice, once in the morning and once at night, and she wasn't there, yesterday. Either she took a mission while you were gone or she's missing."  
The word missing sent off warning bells in Natsu's mind, "Did you check the bridge by the river? What about Acalypha? Did you go by her dad's old house?"  
"I figured when I didn't find her at her house, yesterday, that she just went with you on a mission. When you came back today I stopped by her house, again. She's still not there. I walked around Magnolia, but that's it." Gray could see that Natsu was about to go on one of his 'protect your nakama' rampages.  
Natsu stood up from the bar, "Let's go look for her, then!"  
Gray stood as well. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away from Natsu, "Who's us? Let me know when you find her." He called over his shoulder.  
"You're not going to help me look for her?" Natsu shouted.  
"She's probably just hanging out somewhere and doesn't want to be found. If she's not back in a couple days, that's when I'll get worried." Gray waved and exited the guild. If he was being honest, he was a bit worried about Lucy's sudden disappearance. He knew, though, that if Natsu was looking for her, she'd turn up soon enough.  
Natsu, on the other hand, set out in search of his partner, muttering 'stupid ice jerk' the whole way out of the guild. He only stopped to call Happy over to him, away from the company of Carla and Wendy.  
Happy flew over to Natsu and saluted him, "Where are we going, Natsu?"  
Natsu made his way out of the guild and took off into a sprint, "To find Lucy."  
Natsu retold Happy all the details of Lucy's disappearance. The two of them searched her house. There they found an open ink jar that was starting to dry up. Lucy never left her ink open to ruin, something was definitely wrong. Next they searched for her around Magnolia. They went to the bridge by her house and along the river. Natsu even convinced Happy that they should check South Gate Park, by the Sola tree. When that location turned up dry, Natsu decided to head out of Magnolia.  
He made for the Heartfilia Konzern. After a pitiful train ride with Happy, Natsu stood before the huge estate. The grounds looked so much different than before. They seemed overgrown and unkept, probably because no one was tending to them anymore. Well, that seemed to reign true for everywhere except for the rose garden. The rose garden was beautiful. Someone must have been keeping it up. He had his suspicions, of course. Every so often Lucy would disappear for the better half of the day. When she would return she had small nicks all over her hands. The tended bushes confirmed his suspicions, but she had never been gone so long before. Natsu searched everywhere. He looked in all the rooms, especially the library. He searched until he had seen every inch of the expansive mansion, but there was nothing to be found.  
Natsu left the grounds that evening, having turned up completely empty. There was only one last place for him to check. So, despite his protesting motion sickness and an equally disgruntled Happy, Natsu boarded a train to Acalypha. A second train ride did him no good and he was not looking forward to the final third one. The only thing that could brighten his day would be finding a certain blonde celestial spirit wizard. Natsu walked the distance from the train station to the cemetery. The dragon slayer's memory wasn't quite as keen as he thought so he couldn't remember where the graves were located. His enhanced sense of smell wouldn't help him here, either. Or so he thought. Happy reminded him that Lucy always put the same type of flowers by her parents graves. With the scent of magnolias, she always used them because she thought it was ironic, guiding Natsu, he happened upon her parent's graves.  
No one was there. The magnolias seemed to be at least a few weeks old. Lucy hadn't been there in awhile. Natsu cursed under his breath. Happy just sighed and rubbed his eyes with his balled up paws, "Can't we go home, now Natsu? We've been running around looking for Lucy all day. There's no where else to look and I'm tired. We can look again, tomorrow."  
"You're giving up on Lucy? She'd never give up on us! We're Fairy Tail, we take care of own, that includes finding them when they're lost!" Natsu took off towards the train station, but Happy was right. There was no where left he could think to look. Natsu had exhausted all the usual spots. How could he give up, though? It just wasn't in his nature, he didn't know how. He has spent more than 7 years looking for Igneel, he sure as hell wasn't going to give up on Lucy after one day!  
Happy caught up with Natsu and flew in front of him, blocking his path, "We've looked everywhere we can today. I'm not saying we give up on Lucy, but we're not sure she's even lost. Maybe, she just went on a mission while we were gone. If she's not back by tomorrow we can go looking for her, but tonight we both need some sleep." Happy's stomach rumbled, furthering his point, "And some fish. We haven't eaten all day!"  
Natsu grumbled and folded his arms, "Fine, we can go home." So, the silent train ride back to Magnolia began. When they got back and Natsu's stomach finally settled down, the two stopped for some dinner and made it back to their house a little while after it had gotten dark.  
"Goodnight, Natsu." Happy called as they each retired to their respective hammocks.  
Natsu just grunted. The poor fire wizard wouldn't be getting very much sleep tonight. He looked out the window at the stars, which made things worse. The stars reminded him of her. Where was Lucy?  
Natsu shut his eyes and when he opened them again the stars were no where to be seen. A strong, bright ray of sunshine was streaming into his bedroom and he threw his arm over his eyes. Soon after that he felt Happy jumping up and down on his chest. Natsu flipped over, but Happy just continued to jump on his back. One of Fairy Tail's strongest simply groaned at his impatient and overly energized feline, "Happy," he swatted at him, "go away!"  
"Fine, then we won't go look for Lucy!" Happy was as smug as he could manage.  
Natsu groaned once more before getting up to start the search. Of course, their first stop was the guild. Just as he had the day before, Natsu made his way to the bar, where he knew he'd find the all-knowing Mirajane, without stopping to talk to anyone first. He found Mira wiping down the countertop while nodding along to whatever it was that Makarov was babbling on about.  
Natsu tapped Mira's shoulder to fully get her attention, "Hey, Mira."  
"Good Morning, Natsu!" Mira smiled and paused from wiping the countertop. She seemed to be relieved of the interruption from Makarov's ramblings, "You're getting quite an early start today, aren't you?"  
Natsu grimaced, he wasn't the biggest fan of early mornings. He sat down in a bar stool with Happy taking a seat on the bar top next to him, "Lucy's missing and Natsu's overreacting, again," Happy, so helpfully, told Mira on Natsu's behalf.  
Natsu placed a hand firmly over Happy's mouth, "I was just wondering if she took a job while I was gone."  
Mira giggled at Natsu's defensiveness, but quickly sobered up when she realized she hadn't seen Lucy for the last couple of days, either, "She didn't clear it with me," Mira frowned, "and it wouldn't be like Lucy to leave without telling anyone." Mira furrowed her brow, "Have you checked her house?"  
Happy and Natsu both nodded in unison, "Gray was looking for her while we were gone. I've checked everywhere, but I can't find her."  
Makarov overheard the conversation and tsked at them, "Listen to you, Natsu," the master didn't shift his gaze from staring straight ahead, "You make it sound like she's been gone for weeks! It's only been a couple of days! There's no reason to get all worked up, my child."  
Natsu balled his fists and stood from his chair, "Come on, Gramps. This isn't like Lucy and you know it. She doesn't go places alone."  
Happy flew just above Natsu's shoulder, "Natsu's right, though. He might be overreacting like normal, but it is unusual behavior."  
Makarov just shrugged, "I'm sure she's fine. There's no reason to worry until a while longer has passed."  
Mira stood behind the master, seemingly a little doubtful. With her hand to her mouth she added, "Maybe we could just have Natsu and a few others look into it?"  
Natsu perked up at the idea, "Yeah," he interjected, "Just let me go look for her. I'll ask around Magnolia or something."  
Happy started to get concerned with the ideas floating in his head, "Me too! What if she's in trouble? She'll need us!"  
"You're aggravating me, boy! You're the friend of a wizard, aren't you?" Makarov shifted and closed his eyes, "Lucy is a member of Fairy Tail, she can take care of herself. We have no one here that can't take care of themselves. If I've told you kids once, I've told you a hundred times."  
Mira sighed before walking away to serve other members of the guild. Natsu, on the other hand, would not be so easily persuaded to give up, "You said the same thing about Macao! If we hadn't gone looking for him, he would have never come back!" Natsu lit his hands in flames and spread his feet into a fighting stance, "Let me go look for Lucy! I can't just stand around knowing that one of my friends could be in danger and I'm standing around doing nothing about it!"  
Happy pumped a fist into the air, "Aye, Sir!" he encouraged, "We're going to go look for Lucy!" By this time the trio had gained the attention of many guild members and garnered quite a few confused stares.  
Makarov growled under his breath, tightening his grip on his staff, "Do you not trust Lucy's abilities? Do you not trust that she can take care of herself and bring herself back home? She's much more capable than you think, Natsu. Let her prove it. She's a Fairy Tail wizard, let her prove herself without you coming to her rescue! I treat none of my children differently. I give the same respect and faith to Lucy that I did to Macao. I can't control you, Natsu, we all know that, but just think of how Lucy will feel."  
Natsu ground his teeth and yelled in frustration, "I'm not just going to sit around here and twiddle my thumbs like some old man! I'm going to find my comrades and protect them, even if they don't want to be saved. I won't leave my family alone to get hurt!" Natsu ran out of the guild with Happy flying close behind him. Natsu growled once more before whispering, "I won't let her disappear."  
Makarov huffed and relaxed his rigid body language. He rubbed his forehead as Mira came up behind him, "I know what you're going to say, my child, but I don't want to hear it."  
Mira nodded and huffed, "I have the highest respect for you, Master. You know that. I always have faith that whatever decision you make, you make it for the good of everyone in the guild. But, this decision? I just don't understand, Master."  
Makarov jumped off the bar and made to walk to his office, "I'm glad you don't have to, Mira."  
The rest of the guild respectfully turned their heads back to their own conversations, although many were abandoned in favor of this new piece of gossip. A few select wizards in particular, were affected by this new development and they made their exit of the guild together.  
"Natsu!" Gray called to his rival, jogging to catch up to him and his Exceed, "Slow down, will you! Let us catch up, Flame Brain!"  
"What do you want, Ice Freak?" Natsu called back, pushing just a bit harder.  
"Natsu!" called Erza's very authoritative voice, "If you don't slow down this instant!"  
"We just want to talk to you!" added Wendy's slightly winded, yet always kind, voice.  
Natsu swung around and stopped, "You guys can't stop me from looking for Lucy!"  
Happy landed next to Natsu's feet, "Aye! We're going to find her! You go ahead, Natsu! I can hold them off!"  
Gray pick Happy up off of his feet and held him at a distance so that his swinging fists were just short of making contact. Carla flew up next to him, "Tomcat, please! Calm down! You needn't be so brash!"  
"We're not here to stop you!" Wendy wobbled trying to keep her balance, but struggling due to the quick halt, "We want to come with you!"  
"There's no way I'm going to let you guys sto- wait, what?" Natsu extinguished the flames engulfing his fists, "You wanna come with me?"  
Gray tsked and rolled his eyes, setting the, now calm, Happy down, "If you'd cool down for a second you'd realize we want to help you. We want to look for Lucy, too, Hot Head!"  
Erza was the last to join the group, but she didn't seem the least bit affected by the running, "We overheard the conversation you had with the Master. While we don't always agree with his words, we must respect him. That doesn't mean we have to listen to him, though. If the Master truly didn't want any of us going in search of Lucy he would have forbade it. Makarov didn't tell any of us we couldn't look for her, just that we shouldn't," Erza's eyes glazed over and she placed her hand over her heart, "As Master, Makarov needs to do and say certain things to maintain his authority and convey certain things to the guild. What he says and what he has us do often seem to contradict even though, when you think about it, he was always leading us down the correct path." She sniffled, "Beautiful."  
The other members of the group looked at her dumbfounded. Natsu was the first to recover, "Does that mean we're going to look for Lucy, now?"  
Erza's pride deflated and she grumbled, "Yes, but where do you suggest we look?"  
And so Team Natsu; sans Lucy, of course, went in search of their missing comrade. Natsu and company retraced many of his steps. They tried numerous places, but many came up dry. Her house, her favorite bookstore, and restaurants they had previously eaten at had all come up empty. Soon enough they were asking around to see if anyone could recall a blonde chesty girl with possibly a snowman dog or perhaps a large cow come through. After a barrage of strange looks and dead ends, the group of Fairy Tail wizards; even Natsu, after Erza's special brand of convincing, returned to the guild.  
Many of it's members asked where Lucy was and what they had learned from all there searching. Fairy Tail's strongest team, regrettably and exceedingly frustrated, responded that they had nothing to report.  
Levy, surprisingly not with Jet and Droy, approached the group seated at one of the booths in the guild, "Did you find Lucy, yet?" The cradled Pantherlily in her arms surveyed the depressed group and feared the worst.  
Natsu climbed up onto the table from his seat on the booth, "I'm not done, yet! I'm going back out to look some more!"  
Erza took Natsu's shoulder and slammed him back down into his seat, "We've searched everywhere, Natsu. Even if we were to keep searching, where would we go?"  
Happy slouched in defeat, "Aye," he agreed, sadly, "Erza's right, we should give up for tonight, Natsu."  
Natsu huffed in frustration and nearly pulled out his hair, "Whose side are you on?" he shouted, "I don't know what giving up means! Lucy'd never give up on us, we can't give up on her!"  
Levy felt bad for having asked, but she was starting to get worried, too, "Can I help you look?" She absent-mindedly pet Pantherlily's head to comfort them both.  
Carla crossed her arms and fixed a stern gaze on Natsu, "You can't just stubbornly run around Magnolia like a chicken with it's head cut off! You have to take a break to rest or you're no good to Lucy anyway!"  
Wendy yawned and put her head down onto the table, "Please don't worry, Natsu. We'll find Lucy, I'm sure of it."  
"Not if we just sit around here." Natsu grumbled.  
"Did you check the bookstores? What about the one in Acalypha?" Levy tried to aid Natsu.  
Happy cheered up a bit, "We haven't checked there, yet."  
Pantherlily found his opening, "Gajeel is a wonderful tracker, he may aid in your endeavour to search Acalypha."  
"Even so, there's nothing more we can do tonight anyway. The next train that's leaving Magnolia doesn't run until morning. Get some sleep and we'll start looking, again, tomorrow." Gray tried to reason with him.  
"I'm not taking advice from someone who can't even keep his clothes on!" Natsu shouted. Gray cursed and clothed himself while Natsu cringed at Erza's raised arm and Wendy tried to contain her blush.  
Erza put her arm back down, she knew Natsu was just worried. His hero complex didn't do well with being helpless. He must also constantly feel like he's looking for somebody, "As soon as it's light out we can head to Acalypha and ask around there. Lucy is a very strong girl, I'm sure she's just out trying to find a book. I demand that we all rest well tonight and meet back here in the morning."  
Makarov appeared before the table and slammed his staff to the ground to catch their attention, "Listen, my children, I have some news."  
"Master," Erza breathed, "I didn't realize you were there. Have you heard something?"  
Makarov didn't take his eyes off of the ground in front of him. He let out a laborious sigh, "Unfortunately, I have," he lifted his gaze to Natsu, "I'm sorry for earlier, my boy. I know how you must have felt. While I do believe that Lucy can handle herself that wasn't the reason I didn't want you to go digging into this quite yet." He hopped onto the table and sat cross legged at the edge of it, "I needed a little time to check up on a rumor I heard."  
"What did you hear, Master?" Wendy inquired.  
"Well, it's not a matter of what I heard anymore," he leaned his head against his staff, "My source just confirmed it. I can tell you it's true."  
"Well?!" Natsu shouted impatiently, "Spit it out, Gramps!"  
"Does it have to do with Lu?" Levy sat down next to Gray and set Pantherlily next to Carla. She leaned forward in anticipation.  
"I regret to tell you that there are reports from Oak, Oshibana, and Freesia Towns being attacked today. Many of Oak Town's historical sights were hit while Oshibana and Freesia were raided as well."  
"You're losing us, old man," Gray motioned for him to get to the point.  
"I'm sorry, Master," Erza added, "What does that have to do with finding Lucy?"  
Carla walked up to Makarov, "You're not saying-"  
Pantherlily sat crossed legged, in a form of comfort, as well, "That is the Master's reason for his earlier behavior. Gajeel was right."  
Gray scratched the back of his head, "How do the cats get it 'cause I'm still lost."  
Happy smiled, but the defeated look in his eyes told the truth, "I don't understand, either. I'm always lost."  
Wendy made the same face, "Don't feel bad, Happy. I feel the same way."  
Gray leaned back, "Someone explain, please?"  
Levy balled her fists in her lap. She shut her eyes tight, "Don't you dare insinuate that. Lu, would never. Don't talk about her like that while she's not here."  
Pantherlily placed a paw on Levy's shoulder. Happy looked down sadly and Gray looked away from the group, suddenly the pillar was really interesting. A shadow cast itself over Erza's eyes and Carla and Wendy gave each other a knowing glance. Everyone except for Natsu was slowly accepting what Makarov was going to say. Natsu had to hear it in plain english, "What the heck are you guys talking about? What do some stupid robberies have to do with Lucy. Focus guys! We've got to find her."  
Makarov pointed his staff at the rising from his seat Natsu, "Sit down and listen well, boy. The reports all have one thing in common. They tell of a young girl. She's fearless and cruel. She steals without mercy and takes down her opponents without hesitation."  
Happy teared up, "That's not her…"  
Makarov tenses, waiting for Natsu to accept what he was trying to tell him, "Oshibana had to deal with a large cow. Oak Town dealt with a crab. Freesia had to deal with a boy that seemed to have a lion's mane." Makarov heard the gasp from Natsu and Levy held back a sob, "Every single witness report describes her as blonde and busty. A fearsome Celestial Spirit Wizard that appeared yesterday. I didn't want you looking for her or hear about this before I had the chance to confirm it."  
Levy snapped, she hit the table and let her tears fall freely. She screamed at Makarov, "Don't say that! Nothing's confirmed! Lu would never do something like that! We all know her, she could never hurt someone for no reason like that! You said that she was cruel and merciless, that's not Lucy!"  
Carla lifted her nose to the air, "Of course it's her. What other blonde, chesty, Celestial Spirit wizard with a large cow, crab, and teenage boy, do you know? She's obviously spent too much time with the destructive hooligans of this guild."  
Gray growled under his breath and Wendy looked from Carla to the shocked face of Happy and then rested her gaze on Natsu. Natsu had a confused and at ease look on his face, "What are you guys talkin' about?" He slouched, "When are we going to talk about saving Lucy?"  
Erza's downcast gaze reflected her heavy voice, "Natsu," she grit her teeth, "Lucy is the criminal attacking the other towns. Get it through your head, she doesn't need saving!"  
Natsu just turned his head away from her gaze, still pouting. Gray seemed to be furious with these actions, "Are you really that dense?! You realize it's going to be our job to take her down, right? How the hell are you so calm about this?"  
Natsu didn't even react. Makarov chuckled a little sadistically, "He doesn't believe us. He's fine with going to fight because he fully expects the culprit to be someone else. Despite that, dealing with this person has been officially posted to the guild as a job. I fully expect this team to resolve this issue." Makarov released the tension in his creaky joints and stood. "Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Wendy, you are the team I am sending."  
Levy jumped up, "I'm going, too. I'm not going to let anything happen to my best friend!"  
"You are not," Makarov's booming voice startled all of them, "I have something else I need you to do tomorrow." Makarov could barely stand the haunting sadness and hurt in Levy's eyes. An image of Lisanna's trusting face, with her arms open wide, flashed in Makarov's mind. He stood firm in his decision. Levy would trust Lucy blindly and Lucy would hurt her, "I will see you in my office first thing tomorrow," He hopped off the table, one last pitiful gaze resting on Natsu, "Bring her home, my boy."  
Natsu frowned and looked at Gramps, "I will." He stated firmly, "But, first I have to go take care of that chick ruining Lucy's good name."  
"I hope you're right this time, Natsu." Makarov shook his head and leaned back to crack his weary old bones, "Good luck, brats! Get enough sleep now, ya hear me?" He waved at the group and smiled goodbye as he walked towards the back of the guild, presumably to inform Mira of the acception of the job request.  
Wendy shook slightly, "I don't think I can fight. Not against Lucy."  
"Don't be foolish." Carla stood before Wendy, paws on her hips, "Of course you can. She isn't much stronger than you are. Besides, you're a dragon slayer for goodness' sake." Pantherlily put a hand on Carla's shoulder, telling her to back off.  
Wendy teared up, "That's not why I'm scared."  
Levy shook with anger, "You shouldn't be scared, Lucy would never do this."  
Happy looked up from his seated position on the table, "You guys are really going to go and fight Lucy?" came his small, frail voice, "She could get hurt."  
Gray got up from the table and turned to face away from them, "Tomorrow morning we'll go and find her. She'll come to her senses. We won't have to fight her. She better be ready for Master's punishment, though. You know the magic council will have a field day with this one."  
Erza stood as well, "I hope you're right, Gray, but we have direct orders. Should Lucy not cooperate," she hesitated, "we fight."  
It was Natsu to push past all of them. He had his hands on the back of his head with a smile on his face, "I don't know what you guys are so freaked about. It's not Lucy. She's still missing. As soon as this job is over we just have to get back to looking for her. Come on, Happy."  
Happy flew after his master. Natsu's positivity and faith had a calming affect on him, even though he knew Natsu was wrong, "Aye, sir. All we have to do is beat this girl so we can find Lucy."  
"You got it, buddy!" were the last words everybody heard from Natsu as he and Happy exited the guild.  
Gray let out a deep breath and scratched the back of his head, "This isn't going to be easy for him, is it?" Levy, Wendy, Pantherlily, and Carla all shook their heads in sympathy.  
Pantherlily stared at the door, "I'm afraid it won't be easy for any of you."  
"It has to be. Even though she is dear to us, if she has strayed from the path then defeating her is the best thing we can do for her. As her friends we owe her that much," her harsh piece of wisdom being said, Erza left the guild as well.  
Wendy lifted her head and wiped her tears, "Erza's right, if we beat Lucy that just means we can bring her home. It'll be tough fighting her, but if it's for her own good we have to do it, right?"  
"You got it, Wendy. Just stay positive, okay?" Gray threw an arm around her shoulders and they walked out of the guild with Carla pulling his arm off of her, "Who knows? Maybe Ash for Brains is right and this chick just seems like Lucy."  
Levy was the only one left sitting at the table. She had her hands balled into fists, digging into her lap and her head tilted down. Pantherlily was worried so he lifted her face, only to reveal tears. He jumped back with sweat beading on his forehead, "Don't worry, whatever task the master has prepared for you, Gajeel and I will be happy to be of assistance."  
Levy pulled a few papers out of her bag, "Lu," she cried, "What were you trying to tell me?" The papers had arrived on her doorstep a day prior. They were from Lucy. It was a story about a hero going bad. It ended with the hero's friends taking her down. For the good of many over one. Levy's tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

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**Alright so tell me what you thought and I hope to update soon! Give me any predictions or anything that came to mind while you were reading. This will be a three-shot. **

**Review?**

**-Inkwell**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody. Okay here's chapter 2 for this piece. It's another one that's been a long time coming so I hope you like it. I really feel like I might be in the swing of things, again. There's only one more chapter left of this one. I hope to have the second chapter of CFDSS up soon as well as I'm about halfway through that one. **

**Disclaimer: I ain't gonna do it. Not even for the vine.**

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**Chapter 2 **

Team Natsu left the guild at dawn for their trip to Onibas. The four wizards and two exceeds were all still half asleep. There was not just one person, though, who could be blamed for their early start. Despite being two hours early for their agreed upon arrival to the guild that morning, Natsu had been, surprisingly, the last one to arrive to the guild that morning.

Since everybody was obviously antsy to get going, they left for Onibas on the first carriage. Thankfully for Natsu, the ride was short, due to Onibas being the next town over from Magnolia. They were originally headed for Kunugi Station, but they heard from Master this morning that they were too late. From this they guessed her next stop and tried to beat their new enemy there.

"We have almost arrived." Erza stated, emotionlessly, as she pulled back the curtain of the carriage's window, "Onibas is just ahead. Prepare yourselves, Master has informed me that our enemy is extremely formidable and has defeated any number of Rune Knights put in her path."

Gray didn't even flinch, "Is it confirmed that she's a Celestial Spirit Wizard?"

Erza didn't trust her voice to hide her emotions so she nodded instead. Wendy tightened her grip on Carla and buried her face into the Exceed's fur, "Is it really Lucy?"

Erza nodded again. Pressing her hand over Natsu's exposed ear, although he was knocked out from Erza's motion sickness "treatment". Happy sat next to them and suddenly found his feet so interesting he could hardly be brought to look up from them, "There's always Gemini. Maybe she could be taken over, or there's even the chance that someone's impersonating her."

Carla tsked at his childish hopes, "Listen, Tomcat, you've listened to the thoughts of that foolish owner of yours too much. Just because he can't accept the truth doesn't mean you shouldn't. It makes things much easier, later on."

Wendy sniffled from above Carla's head, "Why would you say that, Carla? Did you have a premonition? Do you know that it's Lucy?"

Carla huffed, but even her frustration couldn't keep the look of worry off of her face for long, "I don't need a premonition to know that it's her, Wendy. All I need is common sense."

"It is not foolish to have hope." Erza held her fists in her lap. She had her eyes closed and her head tilted down slightly, "Hope is never foolish nor childish."

Gray smiled and shook his head, "I thought you were the one that was trying to convince us that it's Lucy. You were prepping us to battle her and now you want us to have hope? Don't you think that's a little ironic?"

The great Titania opened her eyes, but she did not meet anyone's gaze, "There is a difference between hope and trust. The first means you live for a better future than you expect but you are prepared for the worst. The latter will lead you into battle blind."

"But," Wendy placed her small hand on Erza's. The woman across from the young dragon slayer looked down at their hands in surprise. No one was gentle with Erza like that, no one comforted Erza, "I do trust Lucy. I know she would never hurt me."

Erza grabbed hold of the young girl's hand, "You'd be surprised what one can be driven to do. Even if it is hurting those dearest to them." Flashes of her comrades from her younger days plunged the S-class wizard into very sad memories. Sho's tear-filled gaze, Millianna's eyes holding distrust for her, Wally aiming his weapon at her, and Simon, slipping through her fingers.

It was then that the carriage driver jarred to a halt and yelled out, "We're 'ere! Onibas Town!"

There was a moment's hesitation among the group. What would they find in Onibas, and what would they have to do? Gray was the first to stand, hands shoved deep into his pockets, "Come on, we can't just sit here all day. I want to get back before it gets too late. Juvia said she had something really important to tell me before we left."

"Yes," Erza requipped her sword, rising as well, "We should not delay. Our quest should be done swiftly and thoroughly."

Wendy and Carla looked at each other and Wendy gave a small decisive nod, setting her young features in a stern look, "Okay," she rose, "We're ready."

"Who's going to take Lava Drool, over there?" Gray reminded tossing his head in Natsu's still unconscious direction.

"I will," Happy offered, raising his paw and fanning out his wings, "I've carried Natsu a hundred times in battle by now. I'm used to his weight. If I can carry Lucy around…" the Exceed cut off.

Carla looked sympathetically at Happy. He had spent an unnatural amount of time with the blonde lately, and he must really be missing her company. Natsu often had fights or other things to take care of and being with Lucy was something Happy enjoyed. Of course, there was no one that could measure up to the love Happy had for Natsu, but these days Lucy came pretty close, "Well, stop wasting time everyone. Let's go! You were all just saying how you wanted to get this over with and now you're just standing around!"

Gray and Wendy both sweat dropped while Erza seemed increasingly distressed, "I have failed in this aspect and have let down the Master. Please Carla," she thrust her sword into the white feline's hands, "Strike true so I do not forget this lesson."

Carla and her shocked expression looked down to see Erza kneeling before her. All Carla could do was produce a few stutters. Gray lifted Erza back up and led her off the carriage, "How about you just promise never to do it again. Let's go. You coming, Wendy, Carla, and Happy?"

In that order, the team made their way off the vehicle and down the main street in Onibas. It was only after they arrived that they realized they hadn't quite thought up a plan to locate the wizard that was terrorizing towns. After talking Erza down from accepting another "punishment" and calming the hysterics, they agreed that they would walk around town waiting for someone to shout help. It had always worked before.

It was only an hour later, and still no culprit, that the team began to get restless, "My wings are tired!" Happy whined, barely keeping Natsu off the ground, "Why isn't he awake yet?"

"Perhaps I administered the motion sickness aid a bit too roughly?" Erza brought her hand to her chin, but she didn't really seem to believe her own statement.

Gray gave her a open-mouthed smile with knit brows, "I think you might be onto something, Erza."

Wendy shivered, "Motion sickness aid?"

Carla held her head in her paws, "If I recall correctly, she punched him in the stomach. This woman is not well."

Happy nearly let Natsu slip through his fingers, "Can we stop for a second, he's getting heavy!"

"It's only been an hour, Happy!" Carla threw her nose in the air primly from the comfort of Wendy's arms, "What would Lucky say if he could see you now?"

Happy's face fell into panic, "He can't, can he?" Happy looked around frantically, hauling Natsu a little too high off the ground, "Aye, Sir! I can do it! It's no problem for me!" he huffed. And just to prove him wrong, Natsu fell from his grip and landed with a thud on the sidewalk.

"Natsu!" Wendy yelled running to his side, "Don't worry, bumps and bruises are easy to heal."

Natsu finally, from the impact, groaned, waking up from his 'treatment'. He sat up, a little bit shaky, and rubbed the back of his head, "Ugh, where are we?" he looked up to see his teammates and more importantly the sky. He jumped up, "We're not on any transportation anymore?!" He pumped a fist in the air, "Wahoo!" he stretched his arms across his chest and jumped up and down, throwing punches into the air, "Gray!"

"What?" Gray responded, headache already starting.

"Fight me!" Natsu was always ready, and all this energy didn't help.

"Seriously, man?!" a vein on Gray's forehead started pulsing fiercely, "You just got up and the first thing you think of is picking a fight with me?!"

"I've been out for what feels like forever! What else am I supposed to do with all this energy?!" Natsu took in a deep breath of fresh air.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted, "Finally, we can-"

Natsu placed a hand on Happy's mouth and shushed him. He raised his nose into the air and took another deep breath, then several small sniffs. Erza walked in front of him, "What is it that you-"

"Shh!" he put a finger to her mouth and just as she was about to snap it in half he backed up, following a scent, "You know I can't smell right when you talk so loud!"  
Gray's face just got redder, "That doesn't even make any sense, ya nimrod!"

"Actually," Wendy raised her hand, shyly, "Dragon Slayers need all their concentration to find a scent and follow it. Any noise would be a distraction and make it harder to focus on the scent."

"See!" Natsu pat Wendy's head, "I told you! Now shut up so I can smell."

Before any of them could register what had happened Natsu and his nose had taken off on a mad dash farther into Onibas. He ducked behind several buildings, crashed through numerous villagers carts, and pushed his way through a small crowd gathered around a street performer. Wendy he lost in the alleys with Carla waiting for her, Erza was side-tracked apologizing to angry street vendors, and Gray was pushed back in the crowd. Happy was the only one that managed to keep up with Natsu. At a four way intersection of roads, with buildings lining either side, he paused. This allowed Happy the chance to stand next to him. Panting, the Exceed pulled on his owner's pant leg, "Where are you going, Natsu?"

"I smelled her," it seemed that Natsu's nose had decided on two streets out of the four, but which one led him to her? "I smell her. She's close, I know it!"

"Do you smell Lucy?" Happy jumped to ask.

"You bet I do. I'd know her scent anywhere. That's definitely her," he paused and took a few more whiffs, "There's another scent that's really familiar, too, but I can't place it. I think it's-" Natsu growled and dashed down the street farthest to the left, leading them into a clearing. For Natsu, it was as if the world had started spinning around just the two of them. A female with beautiful blonde hair and rich brown eyes stood opposite him in the clearing. The wind died and the noises dissolved until it was just Natsu and this girl. She was wearing a black jacket with a wide brimmed collar and gold trim, three gold dots on either side.

The jacket was exceedingly low down the front revealing her ample cleavage. Hanging off of and accentuating the curvature of her wide hips, sat gathered white cloth that seemed to simply wrap around her in a skirt like fashion, tied to one side with yards of excess fabric hanging off the side. Unsurprisingly, the skirt was short enough to show off the length of her gorgeous legs. Her hair was down, shadowing her face and her signature whip was missing. The pouch that housed her keys was hanging off something that resembled a black leather garter around her mid thigh. She wore simple black flats on her feet as she stood in the clearing. Her head was tilted down and her palms were facing outward, she was still. Natsu didn't hear Happy's gasp behind him. He didn't see the shadow of a figure behind the girl. The only thing on Natsu's radar, was Lucy.

"Lucy!" he shouted, his toothy grin was spreading on his face. He didn't step forward, "I've been looking for ya! Where'd you go off to? Jeez, ya weirdo, you could have told someone. We were looking everywhere for you!"

Lucy didn't say anything, she didn't blink and she didn't move. Lucy looked wrong somehow, but Natsu couldn't place it. He was sure that she was the real Lucy, his Lucy, because she smelled exactly the same, but still something bothered him. He searched her beautiful figure, the figure he had grown so accustomed to, for any inconsistencies. He couldn't find anything out of the ordinary except for her clothes. If it wasn't her smell or the way she looked it had to be the fact that she had yet to say anything to him. If he was being honest with himself, he was disappointed that she wasn't happy to see him. Whenever they had been apart for long periods of time, she would always greet him with a wide smile upon reuniting. Natsu took another step forward.

It was only when Happy flew past him, that Natsu registered the feline as present. Happy flew past Natsu's shoulders and straight for Lucy's chest, "We were so worried about you, Lucy!" he wailed. Happy was no more than 5 feet from Lucy when he smacked into what looked like thin air and crashed to the ground. Happy shook his head to rid the pain of hitting it against the invisible barrier. Rising to his feet, he approached Lucy once more, but much more slowly this time. Still there was a barrier he could not breach. Happy pressed his paws against the wall, he gave it a light shove. Nothing happened. Happy's face scrunched as he called out to Lucy, "Lucy, do you know what's going on? Why can't I get to you?" Happy became a bit more distressed, "Can you hear me? Lucy! Are you trapped in there? How can we get you out?!" Happy turned around to face a stunned Natsu, "Natsu! Lucy's trapped, what do we do?!"

"We untrap her!" Natsu engulfed himself in his flames and charged at the barrier full force, "Aaagh! Let Lucy out!" Nothing stood between Natsu and his nakama for long, at least nothing or no one that lived to tell the tale. Punch after flaming punch connected with the force field, yet it showed no sign of weakening. Natsu took notice of this and pushed more and more force into every blow. He added in random kicks and tried just plain shoving, but nothing seemed to be having an effect let alone seemed to work. He backed up and rammed it again. Huffing and grunting didn't help. Getting more angry as he went Natsu stopped holding back, "Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" His fist already ablaze he ran at the barrier and struck down with the fire increasing the strength of his attack, to no avail. Such a thing would never stop Natsu. Jumping back and setting his feet firmly apart and squatting down at hip level he brought his hands before his mouth in a tunnel like formation. His voice echoes as he screamed, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" causing a release of a build up of his magical flames to engulf the area around Lucy. Happy and Natsu waited patiently for the flames to disappear and gain access to Lucy. Happy gasped to see that there wasn't any sign that Natsu had even attempted to disarm the barrier. Natsu growled from somewhere deep in his stomach. Now he was really mad, "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" This attack only resulted in Natsu clutching his head and falling to the ground. The pain didn't deter him and he continued his useless melee against the magic. This time Lucy was not there to stop him, to hold him back, and warn him to be careful.

Tears sprung from Happy's eyes as he whispered, "Natsu." Unsure of what to do, Happy stayed back. He knew he couldn't stop Natsu, but his friend was going to hurt himself if he kept going at this rate and nothing was really being accomplished.

Thankfully, Happy didn't have to watch this for long. A fist connected with Natsu's face before he could land an extremely powerful Flame Elbow attack. Natsu landed with a harsh thud a few feet from his previously victimized invisible wall. A royally pissed off Gray stood over his fallen form, "What the hell do you think you're doing, man?"

Natsu shoved past Gray and made his way over to the barrier to hit both fists against it, this time with much less energy. He lay his forehead on the wall, "Lucy's in there. I'm going to destroy this thing," He growled loudly propelling backwards, preparing another attack.

Gray hooked his arm through Natsu's and violently swung him back down to the ground, "You want to save her, right. We all do, but I don't see how you're going to do that if you're dead!"

Natsu's eyes widened momentarily, before returning to normal size. He straightened up and adjusted his scarf, "Well, what the hell do you suggest we do?"

Gray surveyed the scene and put both hand flat against the barrier, "Do you know what kind of spell this is?"

"It's very powerful dark magic. This barrier is not something Lucy could produce by herself." Erza sauntered up to the group, her vein still pulsing from having to apologize to the villagers on Natsu's behalf. She hit him on the back of the head and he fell to the floor like a brick. "This may be trapping her inside or even draining her of magical energy. Have either of you tried breaching it yet?" she examined the shield surrounding Lucy.

"That's what I was trying to do before you and ice perv over there started pounding on me!" Natsu sat up, rubbing the forming bump on his head. He stood and gave one last hard punch to the shield. "Nothing happens."

Erza re-quipped the anti-evil hammer that the geological society gave to her, "Perhaps this would do a little more damage." She poised the hammer over her head and with a fierce grunt she swung it down onto the barrier. A large crack streaked across the shield like a bolt of lightning.

"Stop." It was one word, it was quiet, and it didn't even sound like her, but it was there. Lucy had spoken to them.

"That was her! I know it was! Erza lemme use that! I wanna take this thing down. I know I can beat it." Natsu stared at Lucy's unmoving form even more eager to take down the shield.

"She said to stop, matchstick! What if she said that 'cuz breaking this stupid barrier is hurting her or something? Use your head for a second." Gray crossed his arms being fed up with Natsu's stupidity.

"You calling me stupid, Icecube?" Just as always the boys were forehead against forehead, ready to duke it out.

Wendy, finally having found them, walked forward and placed a hand on the barrier, "I'm sorry guys, but that's not true. This barrier isn't hurting her," Wendy's eyes got twice their normal size, "it's filling her with dark magic! Erza you've gotta get rid of it quick!"

Erza returned to wailing on the sphere as quickly as she could, the rest of the group just watching on in silence, still shocked from Wendy's news. Eventually the cracks became bigger and after a few very well-aimed hits they all connected. With one final blow Erza shattered the barrier between them. Happy once again tried to fly at Lucy, this time the barrier keeping him away, was her. Happy was being held at arms length away by Lucy herself. "I told you not to do that."

She pushed Happy as far back as she could manage. Wendy caught him in her arms and once she got over her shock called out to Lucy, "We had to save you! That thing was filling you with dark magic!"

Lucy didn't reply she just started to walk away from the group. Natsu raced after her, "Lucy! Where ya goin'? We've gotta beat up some girl that's been pretending to be you and get back to the guild. You've gotta be out of rent money by now."

She didn't respond. Erza ran up behind him. "Natsu, look at what Lucy has in her left hand. It's a bag that has the Onibas Bank insignia on it."

"So what? Maybe she had to get some saving for her rent." Natsu brushed it off with a tch.

"Dude, even you're not that stupid." Gray shook his head, silently hoping he was right.

"Guys…" Wendy reached them with Happy still in her arms and Carla flying next to her. "she's filled with dark magic, but nothings controlling her. My healing magic's not doing anything."

"I was afraid of this." Erza whispered. She re-quipped her katana. "Lucy, turn around and face us. You have stolen and worse you have disgraced the name of Fairy Tail wizard. Worse still, you have betrayed the trust of your friends. Cooperate and you will not be injured."

"Erza take it easy." Gray held his arm out to stop her from advancing, but quickly snapped it back to his side when he caught a glimpse of her face. "It's just that we still don't have a clear picture of what's going on here. Give Lucy a chance to explain."

Erza sighed, "You're right, Gray." Gray nearly passed out from the relief. "Lucy, you have a very short window of opportunity to explain what happened. I suggest you take it."

Lucy started to run. She ran away from the group. Erza ran after her. "Erza, wait. We still don't know what's going on!" Wendy cried out to her.

"She had her chance. It's our job to bring her to justice, no matter who she is." Erza kept going.

Natsu ran at the same pace as Erza, "What the heck do you think you're doing? That's our friend up there. It's Lucy. We don't hurt our friends, that's what Fairy Tail is about!"

"Grow up, Natsu." Gray hissed at him, "This has gotta be just as hard for Erza as it is for you. It's getting pretty clear that Lucy not listening. We've gotta do something."

Erza came up right behind Lucy and tried to grab onto her shoulder. Surprisingly Lucy swiftly dodged to the left and jumped out of Erza's reach. "Just give us the money back Lucy. Then we can go home and put this dilemma to rest."

Gray was next to try to reason with her. "Come on Lucy, you're the one always telling the rest of us to behave. This is pretty much the exact opposite." He also attempted to grab Lucy's hand to which she deftly swiped it away.

"Lucy why aren't you listening to us! We don't want to fight you!" Wendy balled her fist in front of her face, fending off the tears.

"But we will if necessary. To me it seems to be that way." Carla added, crossing her arms.

"Lucy, why are you doing this?" Happy whimpered. Lucy lost her footing momentarily and turned to the group, whether because of what Happy said or not, they couldn't tell.

Facing the group, Lucy tightened her grip on the bag of money and swung it down fiercely, only a foot to the left of Erza. "The time for talking is over. Lucy's obviously not listening. Attack."

So Fairy Tail attacked one of their dearest friends. This was not the same girl that had laughed with them only days ago, though. She was deft, agile, and refused to talk to them. They all had their different attacks. Erza's was brute force, naturally. Despite Erza's adept strategic fighting, Lucy dodged all of her attacks. Gray tried to freeze her more than anything else. Erza actually ended up a little too close to Gray's attacks and got frozen instead.

What Natsu was doing couldn't really be counted as attacking. It was more like he was trying to catch her. But when Natsu got too close Lucy jumped over him and he got swept up in Wendy's Sky Dragon Roar. It was as if there was someone watching the fight, feeding Lucy the best way to get out of every advance.

As the team tried to regain the composure and catch their breath Lucy collapsed to her knees and screamed. "Lucy!" Almost instantly, Natsu tried to run to her. He was blocked by Erza's extended forearm, she shook her head no. "Lucy's on the ground in pain! Screw this, I'm going over there to help her."

"You must've have noticed, Erza. She's not attacking, only dodging. That has to mean something, right?" Wendy chimed in.

"Hey, that's right! You've gotta let Natsu help her Erza!" Happy added landing softly on Wendy's head.

"I'll be the one to go over to her. I don't trust your judgement right now." Erza took a step toward Lucy and she snapped upright and swiped a key through the air. Taurus appeared in front of them and went for the full frontal assault.

And they fought. Lucy's spirit and her closest Fairy Tail friends battled it out until eventually the 4 person attack was too much for Taurus to handle. Throughout the entire time the concerned Team Natsu kept trying to communicate with Lucy, but nothing was working. She brought up three keys between her fingers. Capricorn, Sagittarius, and… Loke. The first two spirits went to work right away, engaging their respective wizards. Loke stood stock still, shock coloring his face.

Gray let his shoulders hang, "Finally. Hey man, could you tell us what the heck is wrong with Lucy?" He walked up to him and put a hand firmly on his shoulder.

Loke turned his gaze from Gray to Lucy. He gave her a pleading look and she shook her head. "Hey, Loke say something? Are you serious, man?! You, too?" Gray waved his hands in front of Loke's face. Loke's entire body tensed. Moments later he shoved his shoulder into Gray's abdomen as hard as he could. They both started barreling away from where Lucy stood.

In the midst of the fighting Happy screamed out, "Lucy! Please stop! This doesn't make any sense! No one wants to hurt you."

Wendy eeped and ducked an arrow from Sagittarius, "We don't want to hurt your spirits, either! They're our friends, too!"

"What would Master Makarov say?" Erza demanded heatedly. "Your fighting like a coward. Face us if you really have changed to a life as a criminal."

Lucy collapsed, again. She fell to her knees clutching her head in her hands. Her spirits disappeared from the field. Wendy was the closest person to her and ran with hands glowing, "Don't worry, Lucy. I can heal you!"

"Don't child, stay away from her." Carla called frantically.

"It's okay. She's not going to hurt me, right Lucy?" Wendy smiled innocently at her, "Besides Erza's right. Master's not going to be happy when we get you back to Fairy Tail, especially if you're hurt."

"I have a new Master now." a dark tendril of magic came from Lucy's palm and formed into a hand. The magic picked up Wendy and roughly threw her across their battle area. Gray was barely able to get to her in time to catch her.

"You've crossed the line, Lucy." Erza came barrelling after her with swords blazing and Lucy let a shower of dark magic discs fly at Erza and make direct contact, pushing her back.

Natsu ran to his friends' aid with fist blazing in flames. Lucy faced him, her own hands encased in black energy. They looked right at each other and the tension during their stand off was palpable. Natsu extinguished his hands and let them drop to his sides. "I'm not gonna fight you, Lucy."

Her eyes grew twice their size. "Natsu." It was faint and he wasn't quite sure he had heard it, but if he did then he must be getting to her.

"No, I know that this isn't what you want. Me and Happy teamed up with 'cause you're a nice person. Lucy could never do this." Natsu squared his shoulders, growing in confidence.

Lucy grimaced and let out a really heavy sigh. "You're an idiot Natsu. Why wouldn't I want this? I'm way more powerful than I used to be and I can have whatever I want. People actually respect and fear me. I'm not just a stupid little girl anymore. That's what I was looking for at Fairy Tail, but I never found it. My new master has given me everything that Fairy Tail never could. He lets me fight for myself."

It was Natsu's turn for surprise to color his face. "You don't mean that."

"I don't?" Lucy yelled at him hotly, "Then explain this!" she threw up her hand, painfully void of Fairy Tail mark. "I'm not a part of Fairy Tail anymore. I'm under Master Zeref now."

At this rather, disturbing, development all the color drained from Natsu's face completely. He grit his teeth and growled. "You're lying! Fairy Tail is family, you would never do this to us." He let his anger get the better of him and his fists lit in flames.

"I already did." Lucy gestured to the field. His teammates were battered and bruised just watching their conversation sadly. "Even now that I'm a threat none of you will respect me enough to fight me with your full power. You took my hits and the ones you dealt were pathetic." He realized that even though the rest of the team actually had been fighting, unlike him, they hadn't been really using their full power. They still couldn't bring themselves to hurt her. So, he made the decision they couldn't. "So, fight me, Natsu." She brought his chin up with her index finger, "For old times sake. I still remember how much you enjoy that."

He recoiled from her touch. "I already told you," He said extinguishing the flames. "I'm not going to fight you. If you're truly an enemy of Fairy Tail," he grasped her hand firmly, but still gently she noticed and pointed her extended arm, charged with an immense magical blast, to point to his chest. "then you're going to have to kill me. I don't wanna see the world where we're enemies, anyway."

The blast disappeared from her hand. "Natsu! Don't be so stubborn, ash-for-brains! Put your hands up. Fight me! Give me the good old fire dragon roar!" she was frantic. That's when she collapsed screaming, again.

Natsu dropped to his knees in front of her. "Dammit Lucy, we can help you. Just tell us what's wrong."

Through pained screams she managed one last thing, "You should have beat me while you had the chance." An enormous beam of ridiculously strong dark magic exploded from her hand, shrouding the entire field.

"Levy!" Makarov called happily. "I'm glad you're here, child."

"Of course, Master, what do you need me to do?" Levy walked up to the bar where Makarov sat crossed-legged.

He pet his mustache idly, "I was wondering if you would be able to do a little research for me."

"Hey, if it's in a book you can be sure I'll love to read it." Levy pulled her magic reading glasses out of her small purse, "Besides, with these babies, I'll be done in no time at all."

"Wonderful. I knew I could count on you. I need you to gather all the information you can on lost magic, all the different types and any odd things you come across." He jumped down from the bar. "I'll be away at a conference for the rest of the day, but I would like to talk to you about whatever you learn tomorrow."

"I guess I better get started, then." Levy clasped her hands behind her back and swiveled to face the departing guild master. "Mind telling me why I'm doing this?"

"Oh no reason, just indulging a crazy old man, that's all." and with that he was out the doors.

Levy let out a breath, "That was a little weird. This better have something to do with what happened to Lucy."

Down in the historical section of the Fairy Tail library Levy heaved a particularly heavy book onto an old table, kicking up a considerable amount of dust. Levy coughed and tried to fan the dust away. "Why the hell is there so much dust down here? It's annoying and it makes it hard to breath."

Levy gasped and squinted in the dim light of the library. "Gajeel, you scared me. Don't sneak up on people like that."

Gajeel went around the table and spun a chair around to sit in it next to where Levy was standing. "Don't scare so easy and it wouldn't matter."

"What are you doing here? I didn't know that you even knew what a book was." Levy snapped, already fed up with his signature burly attitude.

"Hey, I know what a book is. If they weren't so boring I might even try reading one." Gajeel leaned forward on the seat back. "Besides Pantherlily said you needed some help on a quest the Master gave you. I'm here to do the job."

"First of all, books are not boring." Levy got a little starry-eyed. She placed one hand on her hip and the other protectively on the large book she had set down moments ago. "They are pages filled with amazing adventures and tons of important information. Second, the job is all about these "boring" books, so you wouldn't be interested. Where is Pantherlily by the way?"

Just as the words were out of her mouth said Exceed came flying through the bookshelves. "Sorry I'm late. I got held up at the bar when Mirajane… required my assistance."

"She asked him he wanted to eat some kiwi's. I wasn't gonna sit around and wait for him." Gajeel relayed in bored tones.

"Mirajane required my help in disposing of the delectable fruit." Pantherlily defended. "They were delicious."

"Well, you two can go up and get some more because this job is nothing you guys would want to help me with." Levy sat down in her own chair and put on her glasses, gently turning the cover to expose even more dust that jump started a second coughing fit.

"Then I'm outta here." Gajeel got up ready to make for the exit. He looked at Pantherlily, expecting the exceed to be ready to come with him. Pantherlily just gave him a stern look, reminding him of the conversation they had on the way here. Pantherlily had told Gajeel just how distressed last night and that no matter what the two should assist her with her next mission to ease some stress. Gajeel groaned. "Fine, what do you want me to do, shrimp?"

"I just said you don't have to stay and help me. Don't make it sound like I'm forcing you." Levy's eyebrow twitched in frustration.

Gajeel look over Levy's shoulder at the words on the page. They were all in tiny print with way too many letters for his liking. "Why don't they ever just say stuff in plain english?"

"What are you doing?!" Levy turned her head and her face was mere inches from Gajeels. She turned beet red.

"You wouldn't tell me how to help so I'm just gonna do what you're doing." Gajeel didn't lose focus on the words. "Your hair's too close to my face. Move it."

"Your face is too close to mine! You first!" Levy tried to focus on the words, too. Her attempt was much less successful.

"Then I can't read what you're reading. How'm I supposed to help then? If I'm gonna be here it ain't gonna be a waste of my time." Levy huffed at his stubbornness and simply gathered her hair on her right side shoulder. She tried to go back to reading. Gajeel started to chew on some iron he brought with him. Right. Next. To. Her. Ear. An evil grin spread on Levy's face and she elbowed Gajeel in the gut. He almost spit out the iron in his mouth and the shock of it pushed him back a couple inches. "Why the hell is your bony elbow…" Gajeel noticed something on the back of Levy's neck. It was small and if he hadn't been in such close proximity to her he never would have seen it, but, boy was he glad he had. "Who knew the shrimp had a tattoo."

"We all have a tattoo. We're in the same guild remember?" Levy forced out past the aggravation.

"I know that. I'm not an idiot." He could have sworn he heard her whisper you could've fooled me, but he didn't press it. "I meant your second one."  
"What the heck are you talking about? I don't have a second tattoo." Levy finally looked up from her reading to see if Gajeel was being serious.

He had a wolfish grin on his face. "Somebody should tell your neck 'cause you've got a purple chain link on it."

**Alright, what do you think everybody? We're right in the midst of some serious stuff at the end of this chapter tell me what you think of the conflict. Did Lucy really just do what I think she did? MMM gurl. Gimme some predictions, some favorite and not so favorite parts. As for characterization, well I just love Gajeel and Levy in this. I did. No ragrets. Not a single letter. **

**R&amp;R**

**-Inkwell**


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